Tech Tack On Toys

Companies Hope To Revitalize Slumping Sales With Army Of Interactive Digital Playthings.

October 8, 2005|By Rachel Katz Bloomberg News

Kids will find plenty of high-tech toys under the Christmas tree this year.

A mini video camera from Hasbro Inc. and an animated handheld adventure game from Mattel Inc. are expected to be among the top sellers for children this holiday season, according to Toy Wishes magazine.

"There's so much technology in kids' lives that toys have to keep pace," Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of the magazine, said in an interview Thursday. "It often takes more to wow them."

Toymakers are offering more electronic and computer-related items for the holiday season to fend off competition from DVDs and video game systems such as Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox. They're also introducing flashier items as sales of traditional and educational toys tumble.

Hasbro's Tiger Electronics unit will debut the $80, handheld VCam Now that lets kids take digital photos or videos. It will also offer the I-Dog for $30, a mechanical dog that wags its tail and bobs its head to music when hooked up to a digital music player. Mattel's Fisher-Price is offering Dora the Explorer's Talking Kitchen for $80, decked out with lights and sound effects.

These items are on Toy Wishes' "Hot Dozen" list that it expects will be best sellers. The industry magazine culls merchandise from toy sellers for more than a year before releasing its annual list.

Other items on the list include: the Black Belts Karate Home Studio ($25) from Spin Master Ltd.; a Furby from Hasbro ($40) that's equipped with "emoto-tronics" that allow it to change facial expressions; Zizzle's iZ for $40, an alien-like creature that can be hooked up to an iPod.

Sales of traditional toys, such as building blocks, stuffed animals, puzzles and action figures, fell 5.3 percent this year through the end of August, according to market research organization NPD Group. Demand for educational toys declined 27 percent, the biggest drop for any category. Sales fell 19 percent for plush toys and 11 percent for toy vehicles.

"The real question for manufacturers is: How do you harness technology to enhance the way children play?" Kevin Curran, general manager of Fisher-Price Friends, said.

Spin Master's Black Belts includes a videotape or DVD featuring karate moves. LeapFrog Enterprises Inc.'s L-Max game system, which teaches reading, math and spelling skills, plugs into TVs, while Mattel's handheld Pixel Chix, which looks like a miniature TV, has animated characters that play games and change fashions.

New electronic toys that didn't make the top 12 list include Fisher-Price's Read With Me DVD, which includes a recorded version of children's classic stories and a handheld remote that allows a child to answer questions about the book.